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Lucknow vs Rourkela

Side-by-side air quality comparison between Lucknow and Rourkela.

Cleaner right now: Lucknow (22-pt gap)Historical head-to-head: Rourkela cleaner 306/395 daysYoY 20162024: Lucknow -41.2% · Rourkela -49.3%

Live AQI from Open-Meteo CAMS (~45 km global model, updated hourly). Multi-year history from CPCB station data via aqinow.co pipeline (2016–2024, station-level daily records).

AQI Comparison

🏆 Cleaner

Lucknow

Uttar Pradesh, India

Poor

PM2.5: 105.2 µg/m³

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VS

Rourkela

Odisha, India

Poor

PM2.5: 111.8 µg/m³

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Pollutant-level comparison (PM2.5, PM10, O3, NO2, SO2, CO)
PollutantLucknowRourkela
PM2.5(µg/m³)105.20111.80
PM10(µg/m³)155.50123.90
NO₂(µg/m³)59.7035.70
SO₂(µg/m³)25.5023.90
O₃(µg/m³)41.0066.00
CO(µg/m³)416.00408.00

CPCB Multi-Year History (2016–2024)

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Summary

Overview

In 2024, Lucknow averaged an AQI of 127 while Rourkela averaged 115 — a 12-point (10%) gap, with Lucknow the more polluted and Rourkela the cleaner of the two. On 395 days when both cities reported, Rourkela was cleaner on 306 of them; the average daily gap was 66 AQI points.

Seasonality & days

Both cities see their worst air in November on average. Lucknow logged 6.6% Severe days and 19.4% Good-or-Satisfactory days; Rourkela was 0% Severe and 32.9% Good-or-Satisfactory. Longest clean-air streaks: Lucknow 45 days, Rourkela 60 days.

Year-over-year progress

Lucknow has improved by 89 AQI points (41.2%) from 2016 to 2024; Rourkela has improved by 112 AQI points (49.3%) over the same window. The worst recorded day for Lucknow reached AQI 500 at Lalbagh (CPCB) on 2017-11-09; Rourkela hit AQI 344 at Raghunathpali (OSPCB) on 2024-01-01.

Station-level disparity

Lucknow spans 7 CPCB stations with a 119-point spread (min 97, max 216); Rourkela spans 3 stations with a 29-point spread (min 106, max 135).

Verdict

🏆 Lucknow has better air quality with an AQI of 251 compared to Rourkela's 273.

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